Frozen The Musical @ Theatre Royal Drury Lane - August 2021

 

I think it's a universally accepted fact that Disney musicals can be a little hit and miss. Whilst there have been commercial successes from Aladdin and The Lion King, artistically I'm much more interested in Aida, Newsies and Mary Poppins. Maybe, to me, it feels like 'live action' Disney shows work a lot better.

That is, until I saw Frozen, London's newest musical now playing at the sensationally restored Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Well, I'll be completely honest in the fact that I expected very little from Frozen. 
It takes a weird kind of bravery to take a new musical, and put it on one of the biggest stages in the West End and for it not to look small.

But Disney are nothing if not brave, and in this instance it's paid off in an unbelievable way.

Frozen is a spectacle, with some of the best things I've seen technically done on stage.
Director Michael Grandage has gone for a really cool blend of style AND substance, with a stunning scenic and costume design from Christopher Oram, who's approach to Arendelle is beautiful to look at and is so rich of colour, texture and life.
On top of all that comes video design from Finn Ross that truly is unlike anything that I've ever seen. What they achieve on film with video and projections is...other worldly. When Elsa loses control of her magic, the shocked reaction from the audience summed it up - disbelief, shock and  amazement. We haven't seen stuff like this in London before and it's thrilling that we now have it. 

Bringing iconic characters like Elsa and Anna to the stage, and turning them into real people is no easy thing, and in a way I don't think they have been entirely successful.
Samantha Barks is a star, and there's no denying it. She metaphorically takes the roof off of the theatre when she belts 'Let It Go', with THAT moment in the middle of it that was greeted by a truly electric reception (it's one thing to see it in a video, but in real life it really is spectacular.) But Elsa never feels three-dimensional, and I don't think that's Barks' fault. There's something in the writing that stops almost all of the characters from feeling fully fleshed-out.
Steph McKeon, however, is the exception. Anna is more real here than she is in the movie, and it's truly like they picked her up out of the film: she just IS Anna. Brilliantly funny, with a voice as clear as a bell, and she's hugely moving. The bond between her and Barks is real - they're evidently very close outside of the show - and it's only strengthens their relationship on stage.

Outside of this the supporting cast does well.
Obioma Ugoala is huge fun as Kristoff, alongside the hugely extravagent puppet of reindeer Sven. Oliver Ormson is on the right side of 'sweet' as Hans, and manages to draw the necessary gasp out of the audience in a fairly underwritten part, and Craig Gallivan gives the people what they want with his joyful portrayal of Olaf.
I'm normally not a fan of child actors, but Asanda Masike and Tilly-Raye Bayer really bought so much out of their portrayals of Young Anna and Elsa: cheeky, playful, but with a brilliant bond that you see reflected in their older counterparts.

There's so much to marvel at in this production, and not all of it stage magic.

Disney have made the super decision to take a film with a running time of an hour and 42 minutes, and turn it into a stage show with only a 30 minute longer running time (and that's including a 20 minute interval!)
It's incredibly pacy of a piece, and never drops its speed for a second. Act 1 zips along at exactly an hour (at such a speed that when the familiar introduction of 'Let It Go' began, I audibly expressed my surprise we were there already.) 
It's an embellished story, more focused on the relationship between Anna and Elsa than it ever was before, and it feels even tighter and more streamlined than it ever did before.

So there we have it: who knew I was going to be such a fan of a new Disney show, especially a Disney film I didn't much care for.
But we are where we are, and Frozen is a smash.

A quick aside to all of this: Andrew Lloyd Webber has done an astonishing job at restoring Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
It truly is an incredible display of what can be achieved (if you have the cash to do it!)
Give yourself an additional 45 minutes pre show to have a proper look around at the gorgeous building...it's quite something!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Rent @ Hope Mill Theatre - September 2021

 

It takes a really talented bunch of people to take a musical that's been around for over a quarter of a century, and find a way to completely reinvent it and make it feel fresh and relevant again.

But that's exactly what the team at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester have managed to do with Jonathan Larson's Rent.

This production was in the works for the last couple of years, and played a handful of performances before the November lockdown hit.

Now it's back!

There's something strangely emotive at the decision to have this like an old-school group of players coming together and telling a story, as if round a campfire. The cast all enter together and sit at chairs surrounding the stage, stepping in to play their character(s) and contribute to the telling of the tale. Something about being able to watch Roger sing 'One Song Glory' whilst Mimi looks on, or Mark and Joanne dance the Tango Maureen whilst she eyes them questionably, adds another dimension and is a real highlight of director Luke Sheppard's vision for the piece.

The cast is an embarrassment of riches, so much so that I really don't think I will see a better collective group of actors come together to collectively do this show.

Luke Bayer's Mark is a superb narrator, who's camera acts as the narrative tool to enable us to see into people's lives. Tom Francis adds real grit to Roger, who's One Song Glory builds and builds until it's completion in the finale, in part due to Maiya Quansah-Breed's multi-layered Mimi. Alex Thomas-Smith is giving a truly star-turn as Angel, perfectly matched against Dom Hartley-Harris as Collins.

The star of the piece though has to be Millie O'Connell as the outlandish Maureen. I turned to a friend at the interval and we both said that, despite having seen multiple versions of the show before, Maureen's speech 'Over The Moon' has never been properly funny before. In O'Connell's hands, it's so full of humour and naughtiness that I almost fell out of my chair.

It's also the first time I've ever seen the show with the actors who are actually the age of the characters they're playing. Certainly the original cast were a touch older than playing (I mean they definitely were in the film!) and it only added to quite how believable everyone was in their roles.

The show is in it's final week in Manchester, but I really hope this will make it's way to London in the future - I feel like it's one of the most definitive productions of Rent there has been, and it deserves to be seen on a much larger scale.

⭐⭐⭐⭐